A little background: I have acid reflux and have been taking Nexium for 3 years. I am a 23 year old male and I weigh 320 pounds (more muscle than fat). This issue seemed to start when I lost 42 pounds in 2 months and then started putting most of it back on.

The problem first occurred during a period when I was eating pretty poorly and drinking large amounts of alcohol on an almost nightly basis. I did this for 2-3 weeks and the bleeding started at the end of the first week and happened about every 3rd or 4th bowel movement. It seemed to be accompanied by a strange smell, not a horrible smell, just quite different from what I was used to. The blood ranged from bright red drops floating in the water to being intertwined with the stool. The color of the stool was normal, there was just the blood and the smell, that was it.

I was concerned, so I changed my diet and decided to take a break from drinking for a while. The problem didn't come back for over 2 months until I started drinking heavily again one week The blood came back a little bit (not much at all) but the smell came back in full force.

I have always had itching and cracking of the skin right around the anus, so I have been assuming the problem was hemroids. I mentioned the problem to my doctor and he seemed to think the same thing. I have never had this problem before recently however.

One of my concerns is that I've searched for hours and couldn't really find much information on alcohol causing any of these problems. Is this a known issue with hemorrhoids and alcohol or is it something else entirely?